“In no way are we discouraging customers or fans from using the name,” today’s announcement read. Translation: Just as the earlier memo had said, General Motors is still discouraging
employees
from using the Chevy name.

The announcement, which uses a GM logo in lieu of the words
General Motors
, affirms the memo’s message that the company is suppressing its use of
Chevy
because it sees a “need to move toward a consistent name.” In the original message, GM had cited two examples of consistent brand management for Chevrolet/Chevy to follow: Apple Computer, maker of the Apple MacintoshBook computer and the iAppleMacintoshPhone, and Coca-Cola, the company behind such winning slogans as “Have a Coca-Cola and a Smile,” “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coca-Cola,” and “Coca-Cola Adds Life.”

Meanwhile, the Cadillac division of the taxpayer-owned automobile maker has
continued to roll out
its
latest redesigned logo
. The company last redid its crest in 2002, scraping away the original crown and heraldic ducks to produce a crude, Lego-like color-block emblem (the company called it Mondrian-inspired), suitable for rendering at enormous size on the company’s bloated Escalade SUV. The new design adds raised lines to slightly separate the blocks of color.